Please Lend Us ISHII

Added 10/11/2017 by Joel Yentis

Dear New Japan Pro Wrestling,

As great fans of the Revolution Pro Wrestling (Est 2012) promotion, it is a thrill to see New Japan talent on a regular basis. In turn, it is most excellent that you then book the best of British for Japan tours.

Making Ospreay a Best of the Super Juniors winner, then (finally) a Junior Champion to then have Scurll win the title, you really are show casing what British wrestling is about.

The mix of what we see weekly on British shows meeting New Japan World is like Fish Fingers and Ketchup (I am writing this whilst hungry). When I say British shows, I do not strictly mean British talent. The likes of Matthew Riddle and Keith Lee have graced these shores a lot over the past year or so and it feels like they are our own. Riddle v El Desperado was enjoyable, but Lee v Ishii was something else. Ishii is just a sensational talent, really makes you feel invested in the match and, with Keith Lee makes it feel like a real threat to the Stone Pitbull. Seeing Ishii pick Keith up was the most amazing audio/visual experience and should be the advert for coming to live professional wrestling.

But why keep sending Ishii over for one off shows? Why can’t we have his presence in the UK for a little bit longer than these short bursts? Shibata as Rev Pro champion was an incredible move that really gave the York Hall crowds some classic matches and show cased Shibata as a star attraction. But wouldn’t that be great to see Ishii in a similar role? He is a big deal, he is one of the best wrestlers in the world yet he cannot break into New Japans top 4. Perhaps he could be one of our very best, working with talent here as an advert for why we should all subscribe to New Japan World. I see more and more people aware of the product in the UK, (partly due to the Bullet Club) than ever before. They are touching on mainstream, showing they are ready to be the global number 2 and willing to work with a strongly routed British promotion in Rev Pro.

We were treated to Nagata, Naito, El Desperado, Suzuki, Goto, Yoshi Hashi, Ishii, Gedo and Yano. Except Suzuki and Naito (may be Ishii?!?), these are all very strong mind carders for New Japan. Why not send one of these to the UK, who knows what you might see in them outside of their comfort zones.

When WWE needed a financial boost, they toured the UK. When they needed validation, they came to Europe. New Japan doesn’t need these things as such, but why not use us as an alternative.